They do say that every society is three meals away from revolution...
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Brexit matters
- Thread starter Xenophon PCDGS
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nlogax
Established Member
Geezertronic
Established Member
Annetts key
Established Member
Taken out by those who want Irn-Bru to be your only choice
Xenophon PCDGS
Veteran Member
Is it really true what they used to say about it....."Made in Scotland from girders" ?Taken out by those who want Irn-Bru to be your only choice
It's half true.
ABB125
Established Member
Indeed - who knew that liquefied girders tasted so good!
Scottish NHS to receive £1.1bn from UK-wide social care tax
The prime minister confirms a proportion of the UK-wide tax will be ringfenced for NHS Scotland.
www.bbc.co.uk
Does anyone else remember when Brexit was going to give the NHS £350 million a week?
I vaguely recall there being a big red (German!) bus with such a slogan plastered on the side, but memories are hazyScottish NHS to receive £1.1bn from UK-wide social care tax
The prime minister confirms a proportion of the UK-wide tax will be ringfenced for NHS Scotland.www.bbc.co.uk
Does anyone else remember when Brexit was going to give the NHS £350 million a week?
Xenophon PCDGS
Veteran Member
What has been the Labour Party response to the 1.25% new tax?
The Environment Agency have just published this guidance
I guess this would not have been allowed if we were a part of the EU. We are now free to pollute our rivers!
This is just the start of our quality of life declining now that we have got rid of many of our protections.
That will boost staycation businesses!
Roaming charges are coming back with Three
www.standard.co.uk
Three to reintroduce European roaming charges in post-Brexit blow
www.standard.co.uk
Three's changes are the biggest because in addition to the £2/day charge for roaming in the EU to access SOME of your data allowance (12GB max) there is now a £5 a day charge for outside EU roaming.
The wholesale rate charges for networks allowing roaming in EU has forced this, but Three has used the opportunity to up ALL roaming costs, which I now expect others to copy in the future.
[For clarity; this is going to be from May 23rd next year and only for people on new contracts. PAYG may change between now and May, but is currently unaffected. Three can and likely will force people off existing plans (if out of contract) at some point.]
O2 has said it has no plans to change anything (note: everyone said 'no plans' at the outset, so this is meaningless) and Sky Mobile told the BBC it isn't changing anything, but said nothing about whether that would be the case forever. Naturally, nobody is going to commit to saying that.
The wholesale rate charges for networks allowing roaming in EU has forced this, but Three has used the opportunity to up ALL roaming costs, which I now expect others to copy in the future.
[For clarity; this is going to be from May 23rd next year and only for people on new contracts. PAYG may change between now and May, but is currently unaffected. Three can and likely will force people off existing plans (if out of contract) at some point.]
O2 has said it has no plans to change anything (note: everyone said 'no plans' at the outset, so this is meaningless) and Sky Mobile told the BBC it isn't changing anything, but said nothing about whether that would be the case forever. Naturally, nobody is going to commit to saying that.
johncrossley
Established Member
Wow, I had expected Three to be the last man standing regarding free roaming given that they have made such a big deal about it for so many years. Although before EU roaming their speeds were heavily restricted so it often made sense to get a local SIM card if you wanted a normal internet speed. It does seem that regular travellers will be better off having a separate SIM card for EU data. Having a dual SIM phone makes this a lot easier and more convenient.
This is why:
SNP politicians often have the EU and Scotland flag in the background when on TV.
In Leeuwarden in the north of the Netherlands they replaced the UK flag with the Scotland flag
This is why:
European flag to stay up at Holyrood after Brexit
MSPs vote to keep the European flag flying outside the Scottish Parliament after the UK leaves the EU.
www.bbc.co.uk
SNP politicians often have the EU and Scotland flag in the background when on TV.
In Leeuwarden in the north of the Netherlands they replaced the UK flag with the Scotland flag
Dutch city flies Scottish Saltire in place of Union Flag
The deputy mayor of Leeuwarden made the switch after seeing Scottish people's reaction to Brexit.
www.bbc.co.uk
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Faffing around getting SIMs when you roam is horrible (and sometimes impossible in locations where you need to be a resident of that country), but now becoming a necessary evil of travelling it seems. Many networks have sought to sell single SIM versions of phones sold on contract precisely to make it harder for this sort of thing, but now it does seem that most phones are dual SIM (or some have an eSIM option).
Using Wi-Fi abroad is also a PITA, with slow congested 2.4GHz hotspots that are totally saturated or have poor connections behind them, as well as the security issues and the inability to move around freely when using them.
So nice to see how hard we worked for many years to axe roaming fees (within the EU at least) and now we've gone beyond back to square one.. we're getting even worse!
Using Wi-Fi abroad is also a PITA, with slow congested 2.4GHz hotspots that are totally saturated or have poor connections behind them, as well as the security issues and the inability to move around freely when using them.
So nice to see how hard we worked for many years to axe roaming fees (within the EU at least) and now we've gone beyond back to square one.. we're getting even worse!
johncrossley
Established Member
You can still go to Ireland now if you want. After 5 years, get an Irish passport then go wherever you want in the EU/EEA and Switzerland.
At least you only need one SIM for the whole EU, instead of separate ones in each country like it used to be. So you just get one in the country that is the least hassle to buy or top-up and then maintain that for all future trips. The most annoying thing about the Three announcement is hassle when going to Switzerland, as Three had free roaming in Switzerland for years before EU roaming came in. For years that was the main reason why I kept a Three SIM. So we now need three SIMs: one for the UK, EU and Switzerland.
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To be honest, I think I'll just pay - and moan about what 'could have been'.
My main account is on EE and I already have the roam further (or whatever its called) add-on, which means I won't pay anymore anyway. Plus I'm on a tariff where the new daily fee doesn't apply (but nothing to say EE won't force me to move between now and when the new daily fee comes in).
Likewise, my Three plan won't be affected until such time that I get a letter saying they're booting me off. If that letter does come, I will leave because I don't really use it much anyway.
My main account is on EE and I already have the roam further (or whatever its called) add-on, which means I won't pay anymore anyway. Plus I'm on a tariff where the new daily fee doesn't apply (but nothing to say EE won't force me to move between now and when the new daily fee comes in).
Likewise, my Three plan won't be affected until such time that I get a letter saying they're booting me off. If that letter does come, I will leave because I don't really use it much anyway.
johncrossley
Established Member
I had an Vodafone Ireland SIM a while ago, primarily for web browsing, Google Maps etc. in the US. Getting an American pay as you go SIM was quite tricky then. Maybe nowadays it is easier. Three UK worked there as well but was too slow to be any use even for web browsing. I just had a look and they still only charge 2.99 EUR for 200 MB a day in the US, and they allow free roaming to Switzerland, so no need for a separate Swiss SIM card.
prepaid-data-sim-card.fandom.com
Ireland
This page covers the Republic of Ireland. For Northern Ireland, please see the United Kingdom page. There are three physical mobile network operators in Ireland: Vodafone (Ireland) Three (Three Ireland (Hutchison) Limited) eir (previously: Meteor) Through a network sharing deal Three and eir...
Personally speaking, 200MB would be a drop in the ocean. For work, I'd be downloading large files or uploading video. For leisure, streaming Netflix or similar. There's also the likelihood of someone wanting to tether to a laptop or tablet and maybe video call/conference.
When Vodafone had no limit on EU roaming, I was able to enjoy 50GB in a month. Now it's down to about 20 or 25GB (forget which) and Three has dropped to 12GB (other networks have done similar).
SIMs that offer a lot of data, or unlimited, can be quite costly - at least unless you get a SIM-only contract rather than PAYG - which then means a long-term commitment.
When Vodafone had no limit on EU roaming, I was able to enjoy 50GB in a month. Now it's down to about 20 or 25GB (forget which) and Three has dropped to 12GB (other networks have done similar).
SIMs that offer a lot of data, or unlimited, can be quite costly - at least unless you get a SIM-only contract rather than PAYG - which then means a long-term commitment.
johncrossley
Established Member
Even in the EU you will often find that operators cap the amount of data that can be used while out of the home country (although not Vodafone Ireland it seems as mentioned above).
Sigh. Will the winning never end? Looks like I may be taking my business to EE one of their plans with their Roam Abroad as a "smart benefit" appears to deliver what was roughly previously available without having to pay extra before we all the Brexit bonuses started to arrive.
Yes, that was something the EU agreed on when they axed the wholesale rates. However, the allowances have dropped considerably for us since we left (obviously because until now the networks were taking the hit on being charged for EU roaming, and they wanted to limit their liability before introducing charges to cover the cost).
Comments on there already saying it's fine to charge given there's a cost to exchanging money. Almost like it's crazy that we weren't always paying it.
Funny how all of a sudden we're so okay with extra charges here, there and everywhere if it stops us having to acknowledge that it's down to Brexit.
Funny how all of a sudden we're so okay with extra charges here, there and everywhere if it stops us having to acknowledge that it's down to Brexit.
Brexit benefit!
The most common item of roadside litter around here used to be a particular Polish beer can. Not any more.
I haven't done a survey to determine whether it's due to a shortage of beer, a shortage of drinkers, a change of taste or increased environmental awareness.
The most common item of roadside litter around here used to be a particular Polish beer can. Not any more.
I haven't done a survey to determine whether it's due to a shortage of beer, a shortage of drinkers, a change of taste or increased environmental awareness.
class ep-09
Member
- Joined
- 5 Sep 2013
- Messages
- 515
Or shortage of beer .
In our neck of woods local “indigenous” drunks loved Polish beer, but no more as they can’t buy it that easily anymore ( or it is more expensive).
They went back to Stellas and Fosters.
Still see them a lot around Kent when I do litter picks. I’m not surprised - Some Polish beers are very strong and also cheap, so probably popular amongst alcoholics. Will perhaps be unfair to presume only Central/Eastern Europeans drink them.
Related to this topic - I’ve noticed Eastern European shops still seem popular. There’s a huge one in Margate. Did a big shop in there the other day. I was worried we would lose a lot of the shops - will be interesting to know if these shops are now facing a decline or not.